Next Purchase? We own an Investment Property, but not a Primary..

[Meagan Bourne]

My husband and I currently own one Short Term Rental in a ski town in California that is paying for itself + a little extra annually. We've owned it for almost 1 year, and we have been renting our current residence since we got married 2.5 years ago.

We currently live in Southern California, and are tossing around the idea of moving further north in the next few months to either Boise, Idaho or Missoula, Montana. We aren't sure in the long run if we will love it up there, if our jobs will transition well or we'd need to return back to SoCal at some point in the next few years. We are eyeing giving it a shot for 1-2 years. 

Our question is, should we buy a primary in one of these cities up north and hope we like it and transition well, or should we buy another investment property, and just rent when we move up North to make sure we transition well? We would like to keep growing our real estate portfolio, so just wondering other's thoughts on the topic. 

Thank you so much!